Some Thoughts on the Meaning of Thelemite

"Who calls us Thelemites will do
no wrong, if he look but close into the word."

Do what thou wilt shall be the
whole of the Law.

Thelemite was an English word well
before the revelation of the Book of the Law. Like most
English words derived from the classical languages, it
came to us by way of French. The philosopher and satirist
Francois Rabelais (1490? - 1553) described an ideal
community called the Abbey of Theleme in his novel Gargantua
and Pantagruel. Named from the Greek word thelema
(signifying "will"), the Abbey had one rule of
conduct: "Do what thou wilt." English literati,
acting on a simple understanding of Rabelais, adopted thelemite
as a synonym for hedonist, libertine,
or voluptuary, i.e., a person devoted to
sensual pleasures and passing whims. The word was used in
this sense as early as 1656, when the lexicographer
Blount defined thelemite as "a
libertine, on that does what he list."

Aiwass' revelation in 1904 and Fra.
Baphomet's extensive analyses and interpretations of
"Do what thou wilt" created a new, if not
revolutionary, meaning for the word, signaled by the
capitalization of the letter T. Although
it seems clear that Baphomet's understanding of Thelemite
is much closer to the spirit of Rabelais' Abbey of
Theleme, the literate profane continue to use the word in
its earlier English sense. So then, while Thelemites
strive to discover and perform their "True
Wills," thelemites strive to have a good time and to
enjoy "the finer things in life."

These two definitions may seem totally
unrelated, even antagonistic, but through looking
"close into the word" a fairly complex
relationship becomes visible. I think that the apparent
dichotomy of Thelemite and thelemite
can be reconciled; it may even be that one includes the
other.

One way of understanding the relationship
between our modern esoteric sense of Thelemite
and the earlier literary sense of thelemite
is simply to equate the two. It is popular both among
critics of Thelemic ethics and among nihilistic
Thelemites to assert that "Do what thou wilt"
is just a fancy way of saying "Do as you
please," i.e. that Thelema ultimately is
a "do what you want" cult. Generally,
Thelemites dismiss this idea as too facile to merit a
serious reply. Baphomet himself repeatedly rejected the
notion that a Thelemite is nothing more than a libertine;
on the contrary, he preferred to dichotomize the two,
arguing that his new ethical system was in truth the most
stringent bond possible.

On a pragmatic level I agree with the
Beast, but philosophically I think this view warrants
some consideration. Reductionistic reasoning, after all,
is not always silly. Fra. Baphomet, and
perhaps most Thelemites, would argue that Thelemites are
not libertine hedonists because they must frequently put
aside immediate pleasures for the sake of their Wills:
simply put, you can't do the Great Work while watching
T.V.1. Still, there is
nothing about this which would necessarily differentiate
it from hedonism. Not all desires can be indulged at
once,2 and it is often
necessary to sacrifice some lesser and more immediate
pleasures in favor of a greater but more distant
pleasure. If one regards the True Will as one's greatest
pleasure in life (which it should be), then there is no
essential difference between the hedonistic thelemite and
the esoteric Thelemite. They may disagree on questions of
teleology and metaphysics, but these questions are rarely
significant in real life.

Another approach to reconciling our Thelemite
and the hedonists' thelemite involves a
closer examination of what a hedonist really is. In the
popular usage (the same usage I've adopted so far in this
essay), hedonist denotes a
pleasure-seeker, a voluptuary or libertine or thelemite,
and the word has a distinct connotation of shallowness
and moral laxity. A glance at actual Hedonist philosophy,
however, will show that classical Hedonism is actually a
moral system just as sophisticated as Thelema, but with a
different orientation.

A Thelemite's main interest in life is
the pursuit of Will (Greek thelema),
while a (classical) Hedonist's main interest is the
pursuit of Pleasure (Greek hedone); both
possess elaborate philosophical systems in which Will and
Pleasure respectively provide the central value and
meaning of life. All ethical questions are determined by
reference to the supreme central standard, and in both
cases a complex and often rather strict morality results.

Further, it is obvious that the Pleasure
which the classical Hedonist philosophers are talking
about is something larger than the enjoyment of a nice
dinner. Their idea of Pleasure is more akin to an overall
sense of well-being and of fitting into one's niche in
the world. The philosophy of Epicurus, e.g., stresses the
attainment of Pleasure through moderation and
self-discipline, and has virtually nothing to do with the
popular notion of an "Epicurean."

It seems, then, that the unreflective
people who took Rabelais' thelemite to
mean "shallow voluptuary" were merely following
the example of those who took both hedonist
and Epicurean to mean "shallow
voluptuary," while in every case the intended sense
of the word was something quite different. In this light thelemite
seems even closer to Thelemite than
before.

Finally, any consideration of Thelemites
and thelemites should include the words of the Book of
the Law. This is, of course, the founding document of
Thelemic culture -- the original instance of the modern
esoteric meaning of Thelemite -- yet it
contains numerous passages which would appeal to
hedonistic thelemites as well as to esoteric Thelemites.
Without venturing to comment on their significance, I
invite the reader to consider these representative
passages:

Be goodly therefore: dress ye all in
fine apparel; eat rich foods and drink sweet wines
and wines that foam! Also, take your fill & will
of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye
will! But always unto me. (I, 51)

Ye shall gather goods and store of
women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall
exceed the nations of the earth in splendour &
pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye
come to my joy. (I, 61).

To worship me take wine and strange
drugs whereof I will tell my prophet, & be drunk
thereof! ... Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things
of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall
deny thee for this. (II, 22)

...there are also of my friends who
be hermits. Now think not to find them in the forest
or on the mountain; but in beds of purple, caressed
by magnificent beasts of women with large limbs, and
fire and light in their eyes, and masses of flaming
hair about them; there shall ye find them. Ye shall
see them at rule, at victorious armies, at all the
joy; and there shall be in them a joy a million times
greater than this. (II, 24)

Let her be covered with jewels, and
rich garments, and let her be shameless before all
men! (III, 44)

I would also encourage meditation on II,
70 & 71 as casting further light on a Thelemic
hedonism.

As I remarked above, many "capital
T" Thelemites see themselves as entirely distinct
from "small T" thelemites. In analyzing the
relationship between the two, however, my own
understanding has changed. First, I can now follow the
reasoning of those who say that an esoteric Thelemite is
just one kind of hedonistic thelemite. At the same time,
I have understood more clearly that the popular concepts
of hedonist and thelemite
both result from simple-minded interpretations of
sophisticated thoughts. Finally, in my own opinion the
idea of thelemite is encompassed by that
of Thelemite. I regard hedonism (in the
popular sense) as a part of Thelema; in fact I prefer to
say that indulgence of sensual pleasures is a religious
duty or an act of Thelemic worship. Perhaps the monks and
nuns of Rabelais' Abbey of Theleme would agree.

Love is the
law, love under will.

Footnotes

1. For the sake of
clarity I will pass over hypothetical examples to the
contrary, such as the case of a person whose HGA takes
the form of Lucy Ricardo. I leave such considerations to
my colleagues who are wiser in the ways ov Television. Return to text.